Questions have been asked about Ivan ‘Cash’ van Rooyen’s credentials but Golden Lions scrumhalf Ross Cronjé gave their Currie Cup coach an unambiguous thumbs up on Thursday.

“For me Cash has brought the enjoyment back into rugby.

"I’m not saying I lost it but it was something that was missing. I want to thank him for that‚” said the scrumhalf.

Cronjé‚ who has been made captain for the campaign that starts on Saturday with a clash against the Pumas at the Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg‚ can use the competition to advance himself in the national pecking order‚ not that it will be his focus.

“If you think about that you are going to forget about the job at hand. You’ll lose focus and your game drops‚” Cronjé reminded.